Beef-spbeadeb



PATENTED JANJ), 1855,

N012, ZZZ

F. TESH."

BEEF SPRBADER.

FREDERICK; TEsH, or JoHNsrowm PENNsrLvANIA..

To allwlom, mag/concern Be itknown. thatI, EREnERlcIc TESH, of

Johnstown, inwthe county v o'fj'Cambria and.

StateI of Penlisylvania',,have invented a new.

and useful. .ImprovementinBeef-Spreaders ;.y "and I do. herebydeclarethat thefollowing,

isa` full, clear, andexactdescription ,there of, referencebeing. had Vto. the annexeddraw--y ings, lforming part. of this specification, 1n

erence.v are aflixedfto. similar parts. of my.

beef` spreader...

The beef spreader; is..- an instrument usedby kbutchersi'in cutting up beef, to force asunder the two sides of a beeffduringgthe process of chopping through, the"c'enter of the back bone or spinefjtlieganimahwhich is;I done along the whole length of the back of the beef, in order to divide it in two equal parts. The spreader heretofore used by butchers is a very awkward instrument, and moreover it requires at least two men, and frequently more for its successful operation. It consists of two long poles or levers crossed and united at their intersection by a pin or pivot, the point of intersection of the levers being considerably nearer one end than the other of both levers, so as to giye a long and short arm to each lever above and below the pivot or turning point. To use this spreader the points of the short arms of the lever are brought together and inserted (after the spine has been partly severed by y the chopper) between the two sides the ends or points resting against the vertebrae of the spine, and the long arms of the levers are pulled asunder until they form nearly a straight line, in which position they are retained by a second pin passed through both levers, to prevent their flyingL back. To separate these levers and spread the beef requires great force and cannot be done by one man, as he could not stretch from the end of one long arm to the end of the other when they approach to their greatest distance asunder. This process has to be repeated more than once in cutting up one beef, in order to give room for the use of the chopper and to keep these parts suiciently open to separate the back bone in a proper manner, in like manner as a carpenter in ripping a long board with ralhand saw has to. use a wedgeandmove it fromtimeto time as,he.increases the, length of his cut.

improved spreader; isfdesigned to obvi'ate.thes'eydiftlculties, and is so well adapt-l ed Qtothis. object that it Vcanbe used by one man alone, andi-.does not need to be'removedy andreplacedA duringV the spreading of. a. beef.`

It will `now proceed to describey its .construction and operation.

In the figures. L isr a. straight andstrong stick of ,oakfOr 'oth-erstrong., wood about two, `feet inlength. Tor one extremity of it is I In theA upperface of the stick is cut a. longitudinal groove .to receive thetongue c.y

,This groove extends-...from one end of the stick to within va short distance of the other end at which the fork b is situate. When the tongue lies inside of its groove in the stick a its sharp point projects beyond the end of the stick. On the upper edge of the tongue c is cut a series of teeth composing a ratchet which extends from the butt end of the tongue toward the point to within a distance from the root of the point equal to one third of the length of the tongue or thereabouts. The tongue is made of iron or steel.

Attached tothe upper edge of the stick a at a point where the ratchet work on the tongue commences, when it is pushed back into the stick, is a little cog wheel cl the vteeth of which gear into the teeth of the ratchet work on the tongue c. This cog wheel CZ is turned by a winch or handle e on the end of the spindle which carries the cog wheel d, and between the handles and the cog wheel is a rag wheel f the inner face of which is in the same plane as the side of the stick a. This rag wheel is also carried on the same spindle g which carries the cog wheel Z and is turned with it by the handle e. A toothed dog 7L attached to the same side of the stick a as that on which the rag wheel f is situate, turns on a pivot z' and when thrown forward gears into the rag wheel f, so as to allow the handle to be turned in one direction to eXtrude the tongue c from the stick, but prevents it running back when the hand of the operator is removed from v attacheda forkb, ofmetal, consisting of the handle e. The groove in the upper face of the stick a is covered over (excepting Where the cog Wheel cl enters it,) by a plate of iron or other metal, Z. A hook lo at the end of a chain is attached to one end of the stick a, so that by sticking the hook into the beef in any convenient place, the spreader Will not fall to the ground but be suspended by it when the operation of cutting up the beef is completed.

Having thus described the several parts of my spreader I Will proceed to explain its use and operation. The Whole beef is hung up in the usual Way previous to its being cut up. /Vhen a suitable opening has been made by the operator down the back bone of the animal with the Cleaver by severing the spine longitudinally through its center the spreader is introduced With the handle toward the operator, the fork I) being stuck into the spine, one prong at each end of one of the several vertebrae so as to keep the spreader steady and prevent its turning around so that the handle e, may not get out of his reach; the other end of the separator, being the point of the tongue 0 is rested against the opposite side of the spine of the animal; the tongue'of the spreader When first introduced being pushed into the groove, which may readily be done by turning back the handle e, when the toothed dog zis thrown backout of gear With the rag Wheel f, as seen in Fig. The spreader being thus in place, the handle e is turned to force out the tongue 0 as far as the incision made in the back of the animal Will then admit of, and as the operator continues to cut down through the axis of the spine of the beef, he from time to time turns the handle, forcing out the tongue c and spreading apart the sides of the beef Wider and Wider, the toothed dog gearing into the rag Wheel f and holding the tongue in place and preventing its being forced back into the stick a. The separator being once adjusted on the commencement of the operation needs not to be removed until the operation of cutting down the beef into two parts is completed, as

by it the beef can be spread,7 as before described7 wider and Wider during the operation.

Having thus described my improved beef spreader what I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- The construction of a spreader for beef of a stick a and tongue c' operated by a cog Wheel and ratchet Work, substantially in the manner hereinbefore described.

Y F. TESI-I.

Witnesses:

WVM. N. HOWARD, W. BALLEWELL. 

